One well known type of lawn and garden tractor is characterized by having an engine and transmission supported by a single pair of driven wheels. A pair of rearwardly extending handlebars is provided for guiding and balancing the tractor, and a power shaft is provided at the front of the tractor for driving various attachments such as mowers, plows, cultivators, etc. This type of tractor is generally referred to as a "two-wheel tractor".
This tractor may be operated as a walking tractor with the operator walking behind the tractor and grasping the handlebars to guide and balance the tractor. Alternatively, the tractor may be connected to a trailer attachment such as a sulky, cart, spreader, lawn roller, etc. and operated as a riding tractor.
A two-wheel trailer in the form of a sulky is most often used to convert the two-wheel walking tractor into a riding tractor to allow the operator to be seated while driving the tractor. Two types of sulky attachments have been conventionally used with two-wheel tractors. The first type consists merely of a frame with a seat supported on a pair of non-pivotal wheels. The operator guides the tractor and sulky assembly by pushing or shifting the handlebars laterally to thereby alter the course of the tractor. Because of the relatively large displacement of the tractor handlebars relative to the operator with this type of sulky arrangement, steering is somewhat difficult, and in order to execute a relatively sharp turn, the tractor controls may move beyond the reach of the operator.
In the other known type of sulky, the wheels are pivotally mounted and a steering wheel is mounted on the sulky for controlling the turning movement of the wheels. The operator guides the tractor and sulky assembly by turning the steering wheel in the desired direction, thus pivoting the wheels and bringing about articulative movement between the tractor and sulky, and thereby guiding the tractor in the desired direction. While this type of steerable sulky makes steering somewhat easier than with the aforementioned non-steerable type of sulky, the movement of this tractor-sulky combination as a result of the rear wheel steering is unconventional to the average individual, who is accustomed to the normal front-wheel steering of most vehicles. Also, the use of the steering wheel in addition to the other hand controls of the tractor makes the operator have need for a third hand in some situations.